Michigan Football: Week 2

Being right is sometimes the worst thing. I told multiple people in the week leading up to the game that I was concerned about Army and the unique threat that they posed to us. People told me I was nuts, that I was just letting the Air Force game from two years ago get to my head too much. Well, the further into the game we got the more nervous I and surely the rest of Wolverine Nation got. Let us delve into this mess of a game that took place.

Opponent: Army Black Knights

I have nothing but respect for Army. The young men on that team, as well as on the other service academy football teams, have to go through far more than any other football players in the nation. As a result of this, Army brings an odd dynamic to the stadium where it is hard to hate them or boo them or their fans. At the end of the day, they deserve all the respect for the life they chose to follow. Typically at games, when the opposing team and their fans are referenced by the stadium announcer or shown on the jumbotron, everyone boos them. This was not the case in this game, nor should it have been. Rather, they received cheers from everyone else in the stadium. It was a very cool atmosphere to be a part of. I find myself rooting for Army, Navy and Air Force when they face just about anyone except Michigan, simply because I respect them that much.

Now, the offense they run is very easy to hate. They have that triple option absolutely mastered, and they use it to kill the clock as they drive down the field. As a football nut, I find it fascinating to watch them execute the plays to a tee. As a fan who happened to be rooting for Michigan on that day, I found it annoying. I said this to countless people, it is extremely difficult to beat a team that almost never loses yards. I will touch later on what I liked about Michigan's defense against this triple option offense. Unfortunately, Army's lack of passing was their ultimate demise, as they threw a horrible interception at the goal line just when they were going in to score again, and failed to do anything effective through the air all game.

Overall, I have a ton of respect for what Army did on Saturday. They really gave us a run for our money, and deserve a lot of credit for it. I think people either did not know or quickly forgot that Army went 11-2 last year, scored 70 points in their bowl game against a Houston that a lot of people liked, and returned almost all of their starters from last season. I will pay attention to them with much interest as the season progresses, I expect them to do a lot of damage this year.

Now, as for the Wolverines, it was a little bit of a different story.

Offense

Let us start with the obvious. Shea Patterson has got to hang on to the football. It was absurd that he even fumbled once, especially after last week, let alone twice. If anything though, this game really shows that Harbaugh believes Patterson is our guy. We have to trust that he is making the right decision, but man, if Patterson keeps fumbling, a lot of people will be calling for Dylan McCaffrey real soon. Patterson was not exactly great through the air, either. He missed a couple easy throws, including one to Ronnie Bell deep down the left sideline that looked like a touchdown waiting to happen. I really was hoping he would run more because it seemed like every time he ran the read option, the outside lineman would crash down on the running back. I think if he had kept it just a couple times, he would have ripped off huge chunks of yardage. I do worry that he was told not to keep it because of all the fumbles. If that is the case, we are really in trouble, because our offense is best when he runs. Unfortunately, all we can do is hope that he protects the ball more. Yes, I know, I said that last week as well, but he really must be better if he hopes to lead us anywhere. Army is one of those teams you can not afford to turn the ball over against, so in that respect we were very lucky to be in that game as much as we were, let alone walking away with the win.

It appears that Zach Charbonnet is the man in the backfield, and I love it. I have loved Charbonnet since the day we got his commitment and I watched his high school tape. He truly is the real deal, and I firmly believe that he is a rising star. He just churns out yardage, and he punched in three touchdowns for us over the course of that slugfest. I think he would have had an even better game if Patterson had kept the ball a few times on the read options, because that would have caused the defense to have to respect Patterson as well, and they would not have been able to just crash in every time. Christian Turner again showed that electric running that I love of his. He does a great job of looking for a hole to develop and hitting it at full speed. When he finds a crease, he is almost never stopped by the first guy he encounters, and that is something that separates the good running backs from the bad ones. I do not believe that Tru Wilson even saw the field, and while it is unfortunate for him, I do not mind because I think Charbonnet and Turner are just that good together. As for Ben VanSumeren, I doubt he sees the field again after his one carry resulted in a lost fumble.

Ronnie Bell had a nice comeback effort. He made multiple nice plays, almost exclusively over the middle, including one where Patterson's only option to avoid a defender was to throw it behind him, and he made an incredible adjustment to make the catch and keep running. Nico Collins and Tarik Black once again kind of just did their thing. They are clearly our one and two with Donovan Peoples-Jones still sitting with an injury, although Bell outshined them both on the stat sheet in this one. I was disappointed that I did not see more Mike Sainristil or Cornelius Johnson in this one. I think those two guys have a lot to offer, even as freshmen, and I hope that they get to see more opportunities this year.

I have to strongly disagree with one thing we did on offense, and that is going for it on fourth down while we were locked at 14-14 and in field goal range. I do not understand that logic. Army is a team that struggles most when they are behind because they can not pass the ball, so passing on a chance to go up on them makes no sense to me. I was livid when that happened and I knew in that moment that if we lost the game, then that was the moment we would all look back on. I hope whoever made that decision never makes it again.

Defense

I thought that the defense did a fine job of containing the triple option as much as possible. We played with a lot of speed on the field, and even lined up in a 3-3 formation sometimes, with three safeties and two corners. Essentially, the message we sent was no big plays. The player who had the most consistent success against us was Connor Slomka, a bigger running back that they basically would plummet right up the middle. He would get about 3 yards guaranteed, but his longest run was only 8 yards. We were determined to stop the big plays to the outside, and for the most part, we did, and we sacrificed inside run-stuffing to do it. I thought it was genius because Army is a team that very rarely gets big plays, and when they do it is to the outside. So, while it was frustrating to watch Slomka grind out yards, I feel it was ultimately the best strategy to have against the triple option.

Given that Army almost never passes the ball, it may seem like a bland take that we did a good job against the pass. I, however, bring up the Air Force game from two years ago. What these triple option teams do is they continually run the ball and lull you into believing they will keep doing it until one play they decide to go play action pass. Air Force torched us for what I believe was a 77 yard touchdown because they caught our corner sleeping. So, I believe the corners deserve some credit for not falling for it and only giving up one notable completion for 34 yards. On top of that, Lavert Hill made a fantastic play at the goal line to stop Army right before they were about to put more points on the board. If he does not do that, we lose that game.

While I believe every player on the defense deserves a ton of recognition for putting up with the triple option for an entire game, I must single out Aiden Hutchinson for making two of our biggest plays when we needed them most, in overtime. He is a guy I have a lot of high hopes for, and he really showed up in the biggest moments of that game. I also credit Josh Uche and Kwity Paye for being in on the play that ended the game, which is one of the most, if not the most exciting play I have ever seen in person.

Special Teams

Michael Barrett did a fantastic job reading what Army was showing on the play that ended up being the fake punt, even if it may have been a failed bait attempt by Army. He still saw it, and reacted accordingly by getting the ball into Daxton Hill's hands. Also, Dax made an amazing move on that guy in order to get by him and reach the first down. In my opinion, that was the turning point of the game, and it was gutsy, but those two pulled it off perfectly.

There is a little bit of debate about whether or not Michigan blocked the field goal attempt that would have won the game for Army. I personally do not think we did, but honestly I do not care if we did or not, credit to those guys for really making that kick difficult, even 6'8" fifth-string quarterback Michael Sessa.

To anyone and everyone who says that this game shows that Michigan is terrible, or that Harbaugh should be fired for almost losing, or that the players should not have been that excited about beating Army, just stop. This was possibly the worst that Michigan could have played this game, with the turnovers and inability to get more points on the board, and they still gutted out a win. I love seeing that, it shows that this team can put up with some adversity, and still keep their head down and come away victorious. I am optimistic that they will figure out the issues they had in this game and come back better.

Next Week

Well, I can not say that our next game will be easier, in fact it will probably be tougher. Wisconsin is one of the toughest places to play, they have a loyal fan base that always shows out for their team. Also, they have Jonathan Taylor, one of the current Heisman front runners (although I have a few other guys I would watch out for, but that is a discussion for another time). Fact of the matter is, Taylor will most likely have a good day, but I think if we can take advantage of their inexperience at quarterback, we have a chance. The problem is, historically they have had monstrous offensive lines and tough defenses. So, our pass rush and offense will have to really be at the top of their games. We can not afford turnovers (looking at you, Shea), and we can not give their quarterback time to find open receivers. This will definitely be our toughest game yet, and possibly one of the toughest games we will have all year, and it does make me a little extra nervous that it will be taking place coming out of a bye week. Hopefully Harbaugh will get our guys ready for it. If we come out of Madison with a win, then look out, we could be looking at a special season.